


Presents

by FujurPreux



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-17
Updated: 2010-04-17
Packaged: 2017-10-09 00:07:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/80866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FujurPreux/pseuds/FujurPreux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Suki convinces Toph of going back home after the end of the war. Post-series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Presents

Soon after the celebrations for the new Fire Lord coronation ended, Suki got ready to go back to Kyoshi Island with the other warriors, to inform about everything that had happened since they left and put it in the official Kyoshi Island's record, and to hold a little party for themselves back at home.

Sokka wanted to go with her. She wanted him to go with her, but there were things he needed to do, like rebuilt the Southern Water Tribe and strengthen the bonds between them and Northern Water Tribe. Suki was actually proud of Sokka because he had his priorities straight, and she told him so. He told her he was proud of her because of her excellent taste for men, which earned him a punch in the shoulder. They laughed, and then they kissed a very sweet, very long, very nostalgic I'll-see-you-soon kiss. Although in this case, _soon_ could very well mean several months or even a couple of years.

Suki was finishing to pack up her things when Toph entered the room. "Can I go with you?" she asked trying to hide a note of hesitation in her voice. But it was there, if you knew how to listen. Suki knew. On the one hand, Toph was her comrade in arms, which made the interpretation of their body language and the stress in their voices quite important given that it could end up being the key for wining a battle. And, on the other hand, Suki knew because Toph was her friend.

"To Kyoshi Island?" Suki asked back.

"Yeah. I haven't been there yet, and Twinkle Toes says it's very nice."

Suki grinned and nodded. "Sure you can go. I just hope my home'd live up to your expectations: it was still being rebuilt when I left."

"It'll be. It's not like I can see the scaffolds or anything," Toph said, grinning back.

Suki nearly snorted. "Very well. We're leaving at dawn tomorrow."

"Thanks!" Toph smiled and waved before she left the room.

There was something else there, Suki thought as she looked at the other girl going away through the window. But Toph will tell when she's ready, Suki added to herself.

With that idea lingering in her mind, she went to sleep.

°

The Kyoshi warriors plus Toph and Ty Lee left the Fire Nation the next day. As official allies, they went through an official goodbye. Luckily, Zuko was merciful and didn't read the obviously long speech his advisors had given him, much to their just-as-obvious disappointment, and instead he read something short and sweet and heartwarming. Suki took notice of old Iroh. who was standing behind his nephew, trying not to snicker at the whole thing at first and then looking quite proud at the end. She made a mental note of talking to him a little more whenever possible; the man told interesting stories, and the tea was good.

Aang wished them a safe journey home, told them to be careful, and asked them to leave him an unagi to ride when he went there again. They all laughed at that, even the advisors, whom Suki was certain didn't have a clue as to what had happened between Aang and the unagi. But that was politics for you.

Suki toyed with the idea of saying that the Avatar's fans would be waiting for him, but she decided against it. Instead, she said, "We'll all be waiting for you to come back, Avatar Aang. Kyoshi Island will always be your home."

He thanked her and they both bowed at each other.

Suki and Sokka had already said their goodbyes, but the actual departure was a touching moment for both of them. He gave her a small wooden animal he'd carved by himself. She was about to comment on the remarkable resemblance between it and Momo when he told her it was an sculpture of her. She smiled what she knew it was an awkward smile and held the sculpture against her chest. "I will treasure it always," she said.

He smiled back --though his was a sweet and somewhat smug smile-- and hugged her and placed a small kiss upon her lips.

Katara just hugged her. Tight. "I'll keep my brother in line for you," she said loud and clear for Sokka to hear her.

"Hey!" he said.

Suki laughed. She was happy Katara approved of her as Sokka's girlfriend and she hoped the brother's grandmother would too when they met. "Thank you, Katara."

After that, it didn't take long for the ship to set sail.

°

It was nice to go back home after all that happened, though Suki would miss her friends and her boyfriend.

There was a lot of work waiting for them, she thought as she looked over the board at the seemingly-endless water, not only regarding the reconstruction work of their village, but also with letting everyone know that now that the war was over the Fire Nation wasn't the enemy anymore. They all knew that letting go of their hatred against them would be impossible for many people. Zuko had said that they were in their right; his family's ambitions had caused lots of grief for long enough. Yet, even though Suki understood their bitterness and anger so well, Suki considered it unfair because Zuko was bound to be an excellent ruler, a lot better than his father, he just needed a chance to show it.

"I hate the sea," Toph said right next to her.

Suki looked at her unsure if it'd be a good idea to say she was sorry about that. She understood why Toph would feel uneasy on a ship but, luckily, the trip wasn't going to be too long. Instead, she tried to distract her. "Your parents must be very proud of you," she said cheerfully.

Toph all but jumped. "Maybe," she said. "Perhaps. I'm not sure."

"Why not? I mean, you helped to defeat Fire Lord Ozai's army and to bring peace back to the world."

"Yeah, and I started it all by disobeying them when I left. They didn't want me to go with Aang and they even sent goons after us. After a while I sent my parents a note with Hawky telling them I'm okay, but..."

Suki blinked. "Goons?"

"Yep, goons. Luckily they hadn't realized how great my bending is, so I'd to do was to invent metalbending." Toph sighed happily at the memory. "Good times."

"When are you going back?"

"Soon enough. I told Sokka I'd send Hawky back to him when I got there."

"Why didn't you go back directly from the Fire Nation?"

"Because..." Toph nearly pouted, then sighed, then folded her arms. "Because there's a lot of work to be done."

"And you don't know if they're going to let you go and do it after you visit."

"If it were for them, I'd be always locked up in there because I'm small and I can't see, and then I'll be missing how huge and fantastic the world is, full with amazing places and people." By then, Toph had her arms raised above her head. Unfortunately, the ship decided to move abruptly at the same time, which made her hurry to grasp the handrail again. After a moment, she rested her chin on her hands. "I just want them to understand."

Suki put her arm on Toph's shoulder. She wasn't sure what she'd do if her family would've also thought she was a frail little flower, but she wouldn't have liked it either.

°

The group arrived at Kyoshi Island in the estimated time after no incidents of consequence. They received a very warm welcome from all friends and family, though it was bound to at least one big disappointment when a certain someone found out that the Avatar wasn't coming with the others.

There was an atmosphere of happiness and relief all over; most couldn't even believe the war was finally over, and the warriors' families were celebrating they were together once again.

Despite all of that, even though Toph participated in all the parties and showed genuine happiness and had lots of real fun, Suki couldn't keep out her mind the idea that, deep down, the earthbender was feeling quite nostalgic for her own family.

A couple of weeks after their arrival and after thinking about it a lot, Suki went to ask Toph, who at the time was sitting on top of a rock, if she wanted some company when she went back home. She also tried to be as subtle as possible when she told he that the sooner she get back, the better.

Toph stared at her. "You just sounded like Katara."

Suki smiled nervously. She'd try more subtlety next time.

Toph held her knees against her chest. "But, you know, sometimes even Katara is right."

Suki sighed in relief as Toph laid down on the rock, spread eagle.

"I only wasn't expecting to hop on in a ship again so soon."

"Just think on how much Sokka and Hawky miss each other."

Toph snickered. "I don't know about Hawky, but I'm sure Sokka doesn't go to bed without shedding a few tears for him every night."

Suki smiled at that. A joke was most definitely a good sign.

°

Since the repairs of the village were nearly finished, Suki and Toph left for the Earth Kingdom mainland on the next merchant ship.

Toph was understandably even more uncomfortable this time around, so Suki kept trying to distract her by making her in detail the adventures the Avatar group had since Toph joined until Sokka and Zuko rescued Suki from the Boiling Rock.

"I would've love being there to help with that drill."

"Well, I would've love you being there to hit Sokka's head when he drank that cactus juice."

"The bit about Aang in school sounds like it was fun."

"Yeah, but then Katara and Sokka had to pretend to be married. How gross is that?"

"When you put it like that..."

"The party at the end was fun. And, don't tell anyone, but it was actually inspiring when they all pretended to be Twinkle Toes."

"I'd say it was."

"We should go there one day and tell them they saved the Avatar, just to check their reactions. Specially that bully who rat us out."

"It'd be nice if Zuko could go there and give a speech to thank them for doing their part."

"Only if Iroh writes the speech again; it's dangerous to leave Zuko alone with those things."

"Iroh wrote that?"

"Yep. He told me the night before we left. Zuko was complaining the other one he'd to rehearse was too long so Iroh came up with the shorter one. Iroh also said he had a goodbye present for me, but that it'd catch up with me eventually. I wonder what it's gonna be."

"Sounds like something big."

"It could be a large shipment of tea leaves for all I care, it just makes me happy he thought of me."

Suki smiled; she understood: to be regarded like that was a great gift on itself.

°

That chatting and smiling was mostly at the beginning of their travel and at first when then went through the mainland, in which they did a lot of landsurfing, which Suki enjoyed a lot. But at a certain moment of the journey, it became obvious Toph was starting to get restless and, the more they approached Gaoling, the lest enthusiastic Topgh would get, to the point she was muttering 'Perhaps this wasn't a good idea at all," and, "We should go to Ba Sing Se first and see how they're doing."

"No, Toph, we're nearly there," Suki said. That was true: she could see the Bei Fong Estate's doors from where she was standing.

"We're not! We can still turn around and go away!" With that, Toph did turn away, but Suki retained her before she ran.

"Yes, we are. Come on, Toph, it won't be that bad."

"Let me go! There's still time!" Toph yelled. Five seconds later, she went limp when she heart her name called by a surprised servant who was passing nearby. "...now there isn't," she mumbled.

°

"This is an honor we weren't expecting," Toph's father said. He'd been, Suki considered, too distant and cold since they'd been announced. Perhaps he was still trying to figure out what to do --or give time to more goons to arrive, according to what Toph had whispered to her a moment ago. Suki didn't think so, but she kept alert nevertheless.

"I know, I should've sent a note in advance," Toph pointed out, sheepishly.

"We were so relieved when we got your message," Toph's mother said. "Though it was quite a scare to get it in a Fire Nation messenger hawk."

"Ah. Sorry about that, but it was the only thing available."

"You've grown," Toph's mother said, softly.

Suki hoped that was a reference not only to Toph's physical growth; that'd make things easier.

"Yes, I did, didn't I? And now the evil Fire Lord is canned and there's a new Fire Lord who's not that bad even though he's inexperienced and we're at peace and.. and I came back... and..."

"Do you know how much I had to pay to Master Yu and Xin Fu in compensation for the humiliation you put them through?"

Toph twitched. "A lot?"

There were no answers, just a stare that Toph obviously couldn't see, though she surely sensed it via the heartbeats and her father's breathing, Suki thought.

"I'll pay you back, promise," Toph said.

Toph's father sighed deeply.

From the corner of her eye, Suki saw Toph didn't know what to make of that, just like her.

Finally, Toph's father spoke. "You're not the daughter I-- We thought we'd raised." Toph was going to protest, but he silenced her before she could speak. "All this time, since you left, we've been angry. And upset. And sad. You lied to us, you deceived us, not only by going away against our wishes, but for a long time before that. And, for a while now, I've been wondered who exactly was the blind one."

"Father--"

"I'm not done yet!" He breathed again. "Then, all the news about the war came, and we heard about all what you had done while you were away. We were scared to death."

Suki noticed Toph's mother was wiping away a tear from one of her eyes. She also realized the speech was getting too long; maybe they did have to expect goons to show up.

Toph's father continued. "We were told the Avatar's faction had won and that, even when you were part of the final battle, you came out unscathed thanks to your skills and bravery and the loyalty and trust of your friends."

Toph was looking a little confused, but also really proud after hearing that.

"We investigating before answering those letters, and I've been assured that a man like former general Iroh would never give such a praise lightly."

"Iroh?" Toph exclaimed grinning.

"We've been corresponding for a while. It's been him who made me conclude, as I'd already said, that you're not the daughter we thought we've raised." He shook his head. "And I refuse to have a stranger under my roof."

Suki jumped a bit and tensed up.

Toph took a step back, gaping and looking quite confused.

The expression on Toph's father softened suddenly. "We want to get to know our daughter. The real one." He opened his arms on a welcoming gesture which Toph of course didn't see, but the tone of voice was unmistakable, so she all but jumped at their parents' embrace.

Time for me to leave, Suki thought as she walked in silence outside, towards the estate's garden.

°

"You don't have to go, you know?" Toph said to Suki later that night. "Mom said you were welcomed to stay."

"You and your parents need time to talk about all that's happened. I'll be back later and stay longer, I promise."

"I'd love that, to have you here and the guys too. I'll send a not to everyone to tell them all went well here, and that they can come whenever they need a break from fixing the world."

"I'm sure they'll all like it."

"I'll go help too, promise, when I'm done here. And perhaps my parents'll help too."

"We'll be waiting for you."

"Um. Suki, can you write a note saying me and my parents are okay now? I want to send Hawky out early tomorrow morning."

"Of course! Sokka'll be thrilled to see him."

"Oh, Sokka can keep weeping on his pillow for a few more nights. I'm sending Hawky to Iroh first to thank him."

Suki snickered. She felt for her boyfriend, but this was the best way to go. Besides, Sokka could absolutely afford to feel nostalgic for his messenger hawk for a little longer in the name of friendship. There was a reason Suki had fallen for him, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> It was a feat to convince Toph to cooperate for this one. ;_; I had to make Iroh's role bigger that I'd originally intended. I'm not complaining, I actually liked how it turned out.


End file.
